Movie #006- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Released: July 15th, 2009
Length: 2hr 33 min
Genre: Fantasy
Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

Harry Potter is a fixed point in the early 21st century. It's a series that has captivated nearly the entire world, and has changed literature forever. It seems the simplest of things, and the most ancient, can sometimes act as an escape for us all. And that thing is magic. The film adaption of J.K. Rowlings sixth tale in the unforgettable Harry Potter saga is a marvelous journey into the world of wizardry. But you know what makes Harry, Ron and Hermione so lovable? Do you know what makes Hogwarts so appealing? Do you know what makes this series so priceless? The fact that its not so far from our own. The characters jump off the screen and into our hearts because they ARE us. The love, fear, hate, and humor of life are picture so perfectly on the silver screen. In this installment, the young love of the three characters, with its ups and downs is portrayed so spectacularly by Radcliffe, Grint and Watson, that it stirs up memories of own personal experience. The darkened world of magic seems to be in just as much turmoil as our own, and through the eyes of Potter and his friends we feel the emotions and tensions that make their world so appealing. But is theirs so much different? Do we not have wars? Do we not have heartbreaks? Do we not have exams and angst and failures? Do we not have death and love and laughter? And most importantly, do we not have owls? Rowling's world is so real and so big that the movie theater seems barely able to contain it. Needless to say, I loved Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But it goes without saying...nothings perfect. Particularly the first half of the movie seemed a bit choppy, but it was the familiar choppy that you get with any Harry Potter movie because you know they are trying to tell as much of the story in as little time as possible. It jumped around a little bit, and anyone who hasn't read the novels might have found themselves a little thrown but once the movie found a rhythm it became a bulleting train I did not want to get off. It had everything, the interactions between the characters in every way was mesmerizing (although the near-absence of Neville Longbottom and the complete absence of Lord Voldemort was disappointing) and the on-screen visual effects were stunning. The score of the movie was every bit of heart-pounding as the action dashing across it. The climactic scenes, with Harry and Dumbledore on their last hoorah adventure was edge-of-your-seat drama, with the feeling of doom lurking not to far off. If I had one complaint, it lies with the ending. The funeral scene is absent because the powers that be felt it didn't fit in with the tone of the film. Fine, but the ending didn't have that smash, thunderous, the war is on ending that I wanted. Harry, Ron and Hermione sort of had a moment where they looked out onto the landscape of Hogwarts and subtly decided to finish what Dumbledore started, but you kind of wanted Harry to say something like "there's no turning back now" or "neither can live while the other survives" or even "THIS IS HOGWARTS!" but it just kind of faded to black. Not with a bang but a whimper, and its a shame. Nevertheless, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince lived up to expectation, the actors, particularly the main trio continue to grow with each movie, the story comes to life so vividly on the massive screen, and the moments and memories that Rowling had written so beautifully play out like a dream symphony. Needless to say, this movie was...well...magic.

Score (92/100) A-
Story: B+
Characters: A+
Visual Presentation: A-
Writing: A-
Impact: B+

Movie #003- Inkheart

Released: January 23rd, 2009
Length: 1hr 46min
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Andy Serkis

I rooted for Inkheart. It seemed like an interesting story about a man who can bring characters to life by reading them aloud. Sure, it was probably going to be a little cheesy, but overall, I was expecting a good sound 2 hour journey into books. What I got was good special effects coupled with disappointment and unrest. It felt like "Inkheart" a screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke, was thrown together too quickly. Brendan Fraser's character, Mortimer Folchart a.k.a. "Silver Tongue" who when he reads aloud brings the characters out of the story and into his world, in exchange for someone of our world going into the storyworld, is kind of flat and doesn't get nearly enough screen time. The drama surrounding him, mainly the loss of his wife into the storyworld's titular novel "Inkheart" where most of the storyworld characters are from, and his own personal demons with his "ability" all kind of happen to fast. It's like "hey I can bring books to life" and "oh by the way my wife is trapped in one". The villain and the storyworld hero, Capricon (Serkis) and Dustfinger (Bettany) respectively, give solid performances. I liked Serkis as the villain, he was funny, crude and hateable. Dustfinger was a sort of anti-hero, who was fighting his own personal desires (to be reunited with his family in the story world) with those of Brendan Fraser (who wanted his wife to be brought back). But this seems like a simple solution, does it not? Swap Dustfinger for Resa Folchart (Sienna Guillory) and problem solved. But for whatever reason, Mortimer refuses to do this just long enough for the bad guys to show up and burn the last copy of Inkheart (or so it seems) and thus trap both Dustfinger and Resa in their respective worlds. Luckily, with the help of his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett), and one of the forty thieves that was "read" into our world (Rafi Gavron) the group sets out on a journey to find a copy of Inkheart and right all the wrongs. The special effects are fun, in particular the characters from the Inkheart world, who have bits of text scripted on their faces. Also, the feared "Shadow", Capricorn's secret weapon, is well done and imaginative. However, as much praise as I have for this movie, I have disappointment. It never really lived up to its potential and focused too much on Dustfinger, who is really a supporting character given lead character screen time. It should have been more about Mortimer and his daughter Meggie and their ability and less running around. Overall, the movie was fairly entertaining, and had some humorous moments and some creative ones, but its not a movie I'd recommend you rush out and see. If your into fantasy story's, your welcome to give this a try, otherwise "Inkheart" is not for you.

Overall Score: (77/100) C+
Characters- B-
Story- D
Visual/Presentation- B